Stay on target

One of my favorite games of this generation is Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. The main reason I love it so much is because of its innovative “Nemesis System” which altered the game depending on your actions. Since Shadow of Mordor was as a hit, it’s no surprise that a sequel — Middle-Earth: Shadow of War — is coming out soon. Given my appreciation of the first game, I was excited to play the follow up during this year’s E3.

The first thing I got to check out was a video that explained how siege battles work. In Shadow of Mordor, you had the ability to take over and command Orcs. This ability has been expanded to encompass entire armies of Orcs and other nasty Middle-Earth monsters. The goal of sieges is to take over a fortification by killing the Orc in charge. Each Orc leader belongs to a specific tribe, and that tribe’s characteristics will influence how the region develops.

Things move fast once a siege begins. While the Orc army attacks the castle’s outer defenses with arrows and catapults, you as protagonist Talion (who is fused with the elf, Celebrimbor) must head in and take over specific sections while also taking out each Orc lieutenant. It doesn’t take long for your army of Orcs to come in and help you out.

As you can imagine, things can get rather hectic as you try to take over locations and kill lieutenants. The same fluid combat from the previous game returns, and it’s easy to kill a lot of foes in seconds. Followers fight alongside you, but they can be killed off. You can heal members of your Orc army on the fly, but this leaves you open to attack. However, any Orc you save will remember that and go the extra mile to help you in future battles.

Taking over territories extends your influence and helps grows your army. It also opens up new objectives to complete. Once an area is conquered, it’s best to place a strong, loyal Orc in charge. The Dark Lord Sauron doesn’t like it when his lands are stolen, and he’ll try to reclaim them. Leaving a strong lieutenant in charge ensures you’ll hold on to your newly conquered territory.

After the demonstration, I was able to get some hands-on time with Shadow of War. The two story missions I played were reminiscent of the original game. In between missions, I traversed the open world on-foot or on the back of a caragor. As I traveled the land, I was able to appreciate how gorgeous everything looks. It’s clear that the game got a significant graphical overhaul. I was impressed by the variety of scenery in the small portion I saw. With new lands like Gorgoroth and Cirith Ungol, there will be plenty of fresh sights to take in.

The first mission I played was stealth based. I hid in bushes and crept along rooftops to remain unseen. I was able to interrogate four out of the five Orcs required to complete the mission but I was discovered by the fifth Orc. Thankfully, I was able to force the information out of him before I had to make a hasty retreat.

For the second and final mission, I had to face a particularly nasty boss. Prior to the battle, I had to stalk the creature through a thick, fog-filled forest. This segment was pretty interesting because of its horror game vibe. After I had gathered info from Orcs that were imprisoned in tree branches, I came face to face with the boss. Kind of.

The boss used pieces of foliage to create a caragor-like thing to attack me. I had to dodge its attacks and fire arrows at it whenever I found an opening. Like many plant-based foes in video games, this being used poison attacks which slowed me down. I felt pretty good about myself when I took it down, but that jubilation was short-lived as the foe was replaced by a large troll-like creature that was also made of branches and leaves.

I’ll freely admit that this second boss kicked my ass mercilessly. It was deceptively fast given its size and it took me a while to adapt. With only a sliver of health left, I finally felled the beast… only for it to be replaced by a flying tree monster type thing. Thankfully, this boss fight was easy and I won relatively fast.

Overall, I was highly impressed with Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. I know I might be a tad biased because I’m a fan of the original but this really was a solid experience. The game will be released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on October 10 so it won’t be too long before we can all chop off Orc heads.